Return-to-Work plans: lessening the impact of workplace injuries

Guest post
By Heather Becker, Manager, Social Marketing, Planning and Communications, Workers' Compensation Board

“It happened so fast. I wish I could turn back the clock.”

Unfortunately, you can’t undo an injury, but there are steps employers and injured workers can take to help life stay as normal as possible during recovery.

A work injury affects more than just the injured worker. The person’s family may suffer from the change in routine or financial loss. The community may lose a valued coach or committee member. Co-workers who witness an injury can be impacted emotionally or their work duties may change. Injuries are always costly to the employer, whether it is through lost productivity, additional hiring, retraining or surcharges. There may even be damaged equipment from the incident.

When a worker is injured, the everyone’s goal is to have the worker recover as quickly and as fully as possible. This is where a well developed return-to-work (RTW) plan is key.

Grant Van Eaton, Director of Case Management South at the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB), says: “The best scenario is where the return-to-work program is set up ahead of time, and the employers let the workers know what it is. In these situations, an injured worker knows what information the employer needs before they go to their health care provider. This saves repeat visits to the healthcare provider. In many cases, the worker is able to return to the workplace the day of the injury or the day after with their restrictions in hand.”

Van Eaton explains that in the best RTW plans, the employer already has meaningful, productive employment planned for injured workers.

Annette Goski, Account Manager at the WCB, explains that a RTW plan is like having a fire drill or emergency plan.

“It’s something you want in place before you have an injury,” Goski says. “It makes it efficient if you’ve established alternate duties for all of your workers. Having a pre-determined RTW plan means that every injured worker in a workplace will be treated fairly and consistently.”

She explains that implementing the RTW plan helps both the worker and the employer. For workers, she says: “They stay connected to the workplace, helping them get back to their regular jobs faster. The longer they are away, the harder it is and the less likely they are to return to work. There could be new people, new equipment and new ways of doing things. A RTW program makes the transition back to work easier. The social contact also helps people to recover faster.”

Goski points out that returning to work also allows workers to retain benefits that could be lost when they are out of the workplace.

She says that maintaining routine has a great psychological benefit for the worker and the worker’s family.

“It lessens the impact and perception of disability when you get out of the house and you are back with your co-workers on a day to day basis,” she says.

RTW programs also help employers. Goski says, “I tell employers, your employees are your most valuable asset. You’ve spent a lot of money hiring and training them. You want to retain that knowledge in your workplace.”

You can’t change an injury once it has happened, but through a thoughtful RTW plan, you can mitigate its impact for your employees and your company.

The WCB offers a free two-day Effective Return-to-Work training course for employers. Participants leave with knowledge and tools to establish their own RTW program. For more information about RTW or the Effective RTW Training Course, visit www.worksafesask.ca.